Through The Eyes of a Raven

Part 2 - The Raven

Everything came into focus as Matthew blinked against the cold concrete. It soaked through his clothes and he instantly rolled onto his stomach, finally able to pull himself from his haze and focus on the smoking buildings around him. His movements were jerky and he looked around wildly, trying to figure out where he was. Houses and lamp posts rose up around him and in the distance, he could see the towering buildings of downtown. The city. He was back. Sharp pain suddenly flared through his body, like a hot poker was piercing his insides again and again. His heart was thumping hard in his chest, too hard to be normal, as if it were working furiously to maintain its rhythm. He trembled all over as he pushed up to his knees and looked down at himself, his clothes were covered in dirt and grime and his breathing came in short ragged gasps. He coughed twice and something inside of him strained, the taste of hot metal filling his mouth. He spat and stared wide eyed as blood splattered against the ground. Something was wrong with him. He knew he was dying, he could feel the cold grip of death creeping in on him.

Chaos suddenly exploded all around him as his senses slammed back into him. His eyes darted back and forth as he saw crowds of people running in all directions and the screaming was nearly drowned out by the almost defeating hum of an engine from above that rattled through his bones. The clouds had disbursed under the force of a ship as large as a cataclysmic asteroid that hovered over the entire city, blocking out the sun. Matthew had never seen anything so enormous and strange intricate patterns of triangles and circles were carved into its metallic belly. He spotted a bird flying above him, the black of the ship nearly blotting it out. Midnight feathers spread and stretched out, and he could hear its throaty call as if it was speaking just to him. It soared overhead, marble black eyes raking across the pavement in search of a small rodent or scraps of food dropped and forgotten in the panic. A single raven, sleek but carnivorous, looked down at the mayhem but was completely untouched by it. It made him think of Samantha again. He had to protect her and Sophie, they were all that mattered now. He needed to find his family but he was at the opposite end of the city. His eyes briefly slid closed, willing himself to stand and the thought of Sophie gave him the strength he needed. They would celebrate her eighth birthday together and he would give her as many piggyback rides as she wanted. His body ached, he was stiff and battered, but he forced his legs to move. They dragged like heavy stumps and he focused on putting one foot in front of the other until he was running.

It took seven minutes to level the city. He was horrified by the lengths they were going to in order to save their dying grandfather. Matthew didn't even recognize anything by the time they were done. He passed countless smashed in buildings, left in broken pieces, and houses that had been demolished into rubble. The once beautiful city had been left in a blazing fiery pit and a hazy yellow cloud blanketed everything. Bodies were strewn across the concrete like grotesque ragdolls and there were puddles of blood where other bodies had been completely crushed. More armoured men were walking around in small groups of three, ripping men and women away from their clutching friends and families before disappearing. He knew they were being taken to the ship to be tested.

Matthew lost track of all time, he didn't know how long he had been running but his lungs burned with each harsh breath. He made it to his neighborhood and it looked just as bad as the rest of the city. Houses were on fire and those that weren't had been torn apart. There were more bodies scattered across the ground and some of them he even knew. Harold, one of their neighbors, was face down on the cracked sidewalk with blood pooling beneath him. Further up the street was Flora, an elderly woman who always brought them home-baked goods during the holidays, was strewn out on her lawn. Her eyes were wide and unseeing, a large chunk of her lower half missing. And in the middle of the road was Juliette, a young single mother, curled protectively around her newborn but neither of them moved. His eyes stung as they watered, knowing he could do nothing for them. He couldn't let the same thing happen to Samantha or Sophie. His skin prickled in anticipation, dread forming a hard knot of desperation in his chest. He had to find his wife and daughter. They had to be alive. His body suddenly spasmed again and he doubled over, coughing blood onto the pavement.